Members of a cult-like religious group in Australia who prayed over a dying child instead of giving her life-saving medication have been found guilty of manslaughter but escaped a murder conviction.

Elizabeth Struhs, eight, was found dead in 2022 on a mattress on the floor of her family’s home in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, after her parents withdrew the insulin treatment she needed to manage diabetes.

Her father Jason Struhs, 53, and the leader of The Saints group he had recently joined before his daughter’s death, Brendan Stevens, 63, were on Wednesday cleared of murder.

Queensland Supreme Court Justice Martin Burns instead ruled the pair committed manslaughter by failing to seek help for the girl during the three days they witnessed her vomiting and losing consciousness.

Elizabeth’s mother Kerrie Struhs, 49, and her brother Zachary Struhs, 22, were among 12 other adults found guilty of manslaughter.

Seven of the guilty group were members of the religious leader’s family – his wife, Loretta Mary Stevens, 67, and children Sebastian Stevens, 24, Acacia Stevens, 32, and Therese Stevens, 37, as well as Andrea Stevens, 35, Camellia Stevens, 29, and Alexander Stevens, 26. 

Lachlan Schoenfisch, 34, and his wife Samantha Schoenfisch, 26, and a third woman, Keita Courtney Martin, 24, were also found guilty.